pplpod27 Helmi

How The House Hippo Gaslit Canada

Welcome back to another episode of pplpod! This week, we are diving into the beloved and bizarre world of the North American house hippo, a fictitious animal that captured the imaginations of kids in the late 90s. We explore the iconic Canadian television public service announcement (PSA) originally produced by Concerned Children's Advertisers in May 1999.

Do you remember watching the tiny hippo forage in a kitchen, confront a house cat, and build a cozy nest out of lost mittens to sleep for 16 hours a day? Or maybe you remember its famous diet of raisins, chips, and "crumbs from peanut butter on toast"? We discuss how this visually seamless commercial—created using modified stock footage and clever visual effects by Spin Productions—was actually an early masterclass in media literacy. The true intent of the broadcast was to teach children about critical thinking regarding television advertising, reminding them that "it's good to think about what you're watching on TV, and ask questions".

In this episode, we also cover the lasting legacy of the house hippo, including its 1999 Golden Marble Award win for best public service advertising. Finally, we discuss its 2019 revival by the nonprofit organization MediaSmarts for their "Break the Fake" campaign. We look at how the modern reboot adapted the classic footage to tackle contemporary issues like fake news and digital literacy, reminding a new generation of children that they shouldn't trust everything they see on the internet.

Tune in to this nostalgia-filled episode as we unpack one of the most memorable and effective pieces of 90s Canadian television history!

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(8442)

Aespa: How K-Pop's Metaverse Group Conquered the Charts

Aespa turned a bold sci-fi avatar concept into one of K-pop's defining acts of the 2020s. Built by SM Entertainment and debuting in November 2020 with Black Mamba, the group of Karina, Giselle, Winter...

2 Heinä 19min

Alanis Morissette and the Fury Behind Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette went from being dubbed the Debbie Gibson of Canada, a synth-pop teen who opened for Vanilla Ice, to the queen of alt-rock angst behind a single album that sold over 33 million copies...

2 Heinä 21min

Thank U, Next: How Grief Rewrote the Pop Rulebook

In late 2018, at the peak of her career, Ariana Grande's personal life shattered publicly. Rather than issue careful PR statements, she locked herself in a studio with friends and champagne and made a...

2 Heinä 20min

Ariana Grande: From Rejected R&B Kid to Pop Mogul

At 14, Ariana Grande was laughed out of a Los Angeles boardroom for pitching a soulful R&B album. Years later she held the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, a feat untouched sin...

2 Heinä 20min

Arlo Parks: The Cost of Comforting a Generation

Arlo Parks went from a teenager writing poems and listening to too much emo music to winning the Mercury Prize, touring with Billie Eilish, and co-writing for Beyonce. This deep dive traces her accele...

2 Heinä 17min

Beabadoobee: The Misfit Who Escaped Her Viral Fame

Expelled from a strict Catholic school for misfit behavior, a teenager taught herself guitar from YouTube and uploaded a song as a joke under a gibberish Instagram name. Years later she was opening fo...

2 Heinä 20min

Bebe Rexha: The Secret Hitmaker Who Claimed Her Voice

She wrote a Grammy-winning track for Eminem and Rihanna, penned K-pop hits, and shaped the sound of pop radio, yet could walk through a coffee shop unrecognized. This deep dive into Bebe Rexha examine...

2 Heinä 17min

Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and the Reclaiming of Country

When Beyonce performed a country song at the 2016 CMA Awards, the response was to scrub the evidence and reject the song as not country enough. This deep dive into her 2024 landmark album Cowboy Carte...

2 Heinä 17min